Globalize

Globalize refers to processes that extend worldwide in scope or application. The word particularly evokes all those processes connected with contemporary “globalization.”

Examples of globalizing processes include efforts by international agencies to globalize immunization against disease or efforts to raise awareness for the rights of vulnerable groups. Likewise, governments and supranationals (such as the World Bank) have globalized the tenets of neoliberalism, a political ideology associated with free trade and minimal government intervention in business. Large media houses globalize news stories and entertainment, heavily influencing which events gain highest visibility internationally.

As consumers, our tastes for products, services, and brands have also become more globalized. Around the world, more people seek out global brands, buy fast-moving consumer goods, and consume fast food. These globalizing processes have been driven by the growing reach of multinational corporations. The proliferation of these corporations is further associated with globalized labor practices, in which people “move” to jobs through migration while jobs are “moved” to people through outsourcing.

Public relations has played a significant role in globalizing many of the processes described above. As Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri (2000) argued in their book, Empire, communication helps express and organize globalization's movement and progress. It can therefore be argued that public relations is a factor in contemporary globalization's equation, with the growth and spread of the modern public relations industry coinciding with globalization's movement and progress.

Globalize is a problematic term as it provides a facade for power imbalance. Few processes described as “global” truly are. Labor is not truly globalized when many workers are denied visas to enter those countries offering greatest labor opportunities or highest paying jobs. Access to many products and services is not truly global either. Many smartphone providers, for example, claim to have a global presence even though there is still no level playing field for smartphones: Some geographical regions offer little or no access to high-speed broadband, while some countries restrict citizens’ access to the Internet. Smartphone providers themselves do not offer equal access to sales and servicing in all countries. Where public relations supports such processes, it can be argued that public relations also helps perpetuate global inequality. Even global public relations firms are not truly global since they only operate in certain countries.

Although globalizing processes attract controversy, it should be noted that public relations is also employed by activist groups and networks that contest efforts to globalize. These groups may not have substantial resources, but some have successfully used public relations to raise awareness of issues seen as by-products of globalization such as man-made climate change or questionable global financial practices.